Brothers
by yogurtpo3
Summary: AU. Ryan is born to the Kirsten and Sandy as their child, Seth’s twin. They live an almost fairytale life in their happy complete family, but when circumstances change, they will have to learn to bind together as one. Inspired by My Sister's Keeper.
1. Chapter 1

Brothers – Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The OC does not belong to me, meaning Kirsten, Sandy, Caleb, Seth and Ryan all do not belong to me...though mini-fied as they are...Seth and Ryan does sort of belong to me - SORT OF is the key word. Oh, and Luke or whoever else might end up popping up in the story from The OC do not belong to me either...though mini-fied people...yeah...it's all confusing...let's just say that I'm not making money out of nothing, and I don't fully own nothing!

_In an alternate universe, Ryan is born to the Kirsten and Sandy as their child, Seth's twin. They live an almost fairytale life in their happy complete family, but beneath every smiling face, there is always a story. And this is one such story, one of courage, of hope, and of twin brothers who were never quite complete without the other..._

First there was Ryan, and then Seth. Kirsten Cohen never in her life even contemplated that she would be blessed enough to have twins, but here they were, side by side. They didn't look like twins, not one little bit. Ryan, even though he was two minutes older, was about half a head smaller, and light featured, blonde hair, blue eyes, much like Kirsten herself. Seth on the other hand, aside from being bigger in size, resembled more her husband Sandy, a large mass of brown hair even at his infancy, and large brown eyes that rolled curiously around. Taking a glance at her babies' name tag, Kirsten couldn't help but suppress a giggle. It was so fitting that she had won the dibs to naming their first child, Ryan Andrew, a name that suit his boyish charming looks. Seth on the other hand, was named by Sandy, and in an effort to please his mother, Seth's name was actually in full, "Sethelah Ezekiel."

"Poor sweetie, I sure hope you won't get teased by the other kiddies when you grow up," mused Kirsten, reaching over to stroke a soft brown curl.

"What was that?" asked a voice at the door, and Kirsten turned to greet her husband with a welcoming kiss.

"I was just thinking about our babies...and their names that's all," she smiled.

"Their names are perfect," said Sandy, pride gleaming in his eyes, "They're both perfect."

It wasn't long before the boys had grown from infants into toddlers into young boys, keeping Sandy and Kirsten on their toes day and night. Ryan was their active child, always playing some sort of game with a ball and bat. He was quite a gifted athlete, even at this age, managing to use a bat and hit a flying ball with strength and precision. Seth, even though he was an active little bunch also, lacked in this department...in fact, he was quite the klutz, often missing the target of whatever he was trying to kick or bat. However, for what Seth lacked in athleticism, he made up for in words. On his first birthday, much to the amazement of Kirsten and Sandy, he had managed to utter his first word, and he never stopped since.

"Mommy, can we go and buy ice-cream today? Me and Ryan would like ice-cream," begged Seth one fine morning just as Kirsten was trying to decide what she wanted to do with her boys on her day off. After moving back the Newport since her mother's illness two years ago, she now worked with her father in the Newport Group whilst Sandy worked as a lawyer for unprivileged youths, and between them, they juggled their time to look after Ryan and Seth. Although they still required a nanny part-time, both were determined that they would spend enough time with their boys to actually raise them, unlike much of the other children in Newport who had full time nannies. Today, Kirsten had especially taken a day off to be with her boys after working a fortnight of overtime. Her father Caleb was displeased, but for the sake of his grandsons, he allowed her to miss.

"Mommy, please?" her four year old Seth begged again, tugging on her arm. Ryan stood by smiling in anticipation, eager for her to answer yes. Kirsten shook her head in resignation, this was the dynamics between her sons, Seth did the talking, and Ryan did the charming.

"Of course darlings, now be good and finish your breakfast and we will go to the shopping mall okay?" she replied them, giving them each a quick pat on the head.

"Yay! Ryan we get ice-cream!" screamed Seth in delight, throwing himself a little too hard onto his brother in a hug.

"Ouchie!" whimpered Ryan when he was knocked to the ground by the unexpected gesture, but seeing Seth's worried look, he quickly sat up and returned the hug properly.

"Sethy, by careful!" Kirsten scolded gently, "Ryan hasn't been feeling too well lately," she told him. It was the truth; her older son had been feeling a little off color for the past week. Sandy had reassured her that it was probably just an infection, and Kirsten knew that Ryan had always been prone to ear infections. Plus, he was mainly complaining about feeling tired, and Kirsten was sure that it had something to do with the "baseball training" that Sandy had started her sons on in the evenings. Now watching as Seth rubbed Ryan's back and apologized to Ryan, Kirsten had to hide her grin at her affectionate boys. This was something else about her sons that made Kirsten and Sandy beam with pride. Whilst they had heard awful tales about sibling rivalry, themselves also having experienced the same problem with their own siblings, Seth and Ryan never fought, but instead, were most willingly to give each other hugs and kisses on the cheeks, as well as pats on the back and high fives. Ryan being all but two minutes older than his brother still took on his role with pride, always protecting Seth whether it is from the imaginary boogie man living in the closet, or the tree root that his brother had klutzily tripped over. Seth was just as important to Ryan, being the only one able to calm him when in the rare occasion he got into one of his tantrums, or speaking out for him, as was usually the case since Ryan was a quiet child and was often shy to speak out to strangers, or obscure relatives and friends. The boys shared all their toys and books, and as both boys had different interest, Kirsten and Sandy found they didn't need to always be buying two of the same things. Ryan preferred toys he would be able to move around with, balls, bats, jumping ropes, bicycles. Seth liked more, toys that he would be able to hold into his hands and imagine with, action figures, plastic toy animals and figurines. Both boys loved books, Kirsten had made sure of that, reading to them every night since they were merely infants in the crib. Even though they were not yet able to read themselves, Ryan and Seth loved flicking through the big illustrated books Kirsten had bought them, looking happily at each picture for hours on end.

"Mommy, we're done!" cried Seth, waking Kirsten from her thoughts as two empty breakfast bowls were held up before her.

"That's great you guys! Okay, how about Mommy cleans up here, and you go to your room and choose what you want to wear today?" said Kirsten, taking the bowls from them as they rushed off. Placing the bowls into the sink and running them under water, Kirsten then picked up the phone and dialed Sandy's number.

"Sandy? I'm taking the boys shopping today, anything you need me to get?" she asked when her husband answered the other side.

"How about a few bagels? Rumor is they have a new sesame kind!" was her husbands answer, causing Kirsten to laugh.

"Okay then, bagels it is!" she replied back cheerfully.

Suddenly a scream erupted from upstairs startling her.

"Sandy I have to go check on the boys, love you!" she cried into the cordless, quickly hanging up and rushing up the steps into Seth and Ryan's room.

"Boys?" she called as she peeked in. "What happened?"

"Ryy…Ryan," Seth managed to say, before he burst into sobs.

"Ryan?" asked Kirsten looking at her older son who was sitting up on the floor rubbing his head.

"N...Nothing happened Mommy. I...uh...got dizzy, and then I was on the floor and everything was black," was his reply, as Seth sobbed harder. Kirsten quickly walked over to her elder son and picked him up off the floor.

"I'm sorry Mommy, I'm sorry Ryan," whimpered Seth, wiping away the tears falling out of his big brown eyes, but Kirsten was too worried over Ryan to hear him.

"Ryan, does it hurt anywhere? Are you tired again?" asked Kirsten, but Ryan only stared back blankly. Picking him up into her arms, Kirsten beckoned Seth to follow.

"We better get you to the hospital," said Kirsten to Ryan, "Come on Seth," she called to her other son before taking a shaky breath. Inside her heart was racing, "it's probably nothing, he's just tired out," she told herself, but she knew that children who were tired did not faint, and she couldn't help the knot from tying in her stomach.

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Please Review! I've written up to Chapter 5, so they should be coming along shortly!


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad that so many of you are interested in this story This chapter is where some of the medical stuff starts coming in...and I'm no doctor! hehe...there's a reason why I've never attempted a House M.D fic! So apologies if some of the medical stuff is wrong...I tried my best to do research on the topic to make it kind of realistic!_

_Had a bit of trouble when I was writing this...I realised halfway through it that I had not only changed the name of their Doctor, but the sex as well! hee. Anyways, I think I fixed it all, but if there's any unfixed mistake that I missed, then you know why! hahahahha..._

_Anyways, onwards bound to the next chapter!_

**Brothers – Chapter 2**

"Ryan, can you say "ah"?" prompted Doctor Williams, as she investigated Ryan's throat. "Well, his throat looks fine, has he been complaining about pain anywhere in particular?" she asked, turning to Kirsten.

"I...I don't think so..." replied Kirsten, "I've been working overtime for the past few days, so...I haven't been with him."

"Okay, how about I check his breathing" said the doctor, lifting up Ryan's pajama shirt. In her rush to get her baby to the hospital, she had forgotten to change the boys out of their pajamas. Kirsten now gasped when she saw the large dark bruise on Ryan's back.

"Where did that come from?" asked the doctor. "Ryan?" she prompted after seeing Kirsten's surprised face.

"I...I don't know...this morning when I fell...I think," replied Ryan uncertainly, now struggling to turn around and see his own back.

"I'm sorry..." said a small sob from behind Kirsten belonging to Seth, "I didn't mean to be rough."

"Ryan fell over when Seth accidentally pushed him too hard...but it didn't seem that hard of a fall at the time, and Ryan didn't seem too affected by it," put in Kirsten after seeing the Doctor's blank stare.

"Does it hurt anywhere else Ryan? It's okay, you can tell us," she eventually asked, turning back to Ryan. Ryan just looked at the Doctor wearily and pouted. He did not like strangers, and he especially didn't like strangers that poked and plodded at him.

"His leg was hurted," spoke up Seth again, who was still standing behind Kirsten whimpering, eventually poking his head out from behind his mother's legs.

"Ryan said his leg hurted...yesterday..." he said again, this time with more confidence "it was after we played baseball...he...he didn't tell you and Daddy because he didn't want to hurt Daddy's feelings..." he trailed off, stepping out from behind Kirsten to face her.

"Which leg in particular?" asked the Doctor.

"Both of them...he said it hurted like...it was hurted inside..." was Seth's reply, confusion contorting his face as he remembered the exact words his brother had told him yesterday. "I'm sorry I didn't say earlier Mommy...but I thought...like, it was just a little pain...and...and...Ry told me not to tell..."

"Seth, you know to always tell us if either one of you is hurt!" scolded Kirsten, causing Seth to pout and shrink back to his position behind her legs.

"It's not Seth's fault Mommy, I told him not to tell..." spoke up Ryan, breaking his silence in defense of his brother.

"Well, Ryan, you should have known better too."

"Hmm, what do you mean when you said that it hurt inside Ryan?" put in Dr. Williams, halting Kirsten's reprimand.

"I don't know...there was no boo boo on my leg."

"Okay...have you noticed him being tired lately?" asked the Doctor to Kirsten.

"Well, he hasn't been feeling too well lately, we thought it was just another ear infection..."

"Any excessive sweating?"

Kirsten shook that head.

"Not that I've noticed anyways."

"Okay," nodded the Doctor, "Look, I would like to run some tests, get some blood work. I'm hoping it's not what I suspect, but we can't be too sure."

"What...what do you suspect?" asked Kirsten, her heart feeling like it was about to jump out of her skin.

"We'll confirm the diagnosis first and get back to you, now I need you to fill out these forms, and..."

Kirsten phased out as the Doctor continued to ramble off the formalities. All her motherly instincts told her that something was very wrong with her child, yet, she felt so helpless.

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Sandy Cohen rushed down the hospital hall as fast as he could without looking like some hapless sprint runner. His wife had been in tears over the phone, and all he could make out was that they were at the hospital, something was wrong with Ryan, and the doctors and nurses weren't letting on what exactly. He had tried to comfort her, telling her he would make it there as soon as possible. That didn't quite turn out, for as soon as he put down the phone, his boss had walked in with a new case, and a bloody difficult one at that. His client was merely a thirteen year old boy, but was already charged with possession of a gun, and attempted murder. Facing these abused and neglected teenagers often had their toll on Sandy, and he would go home each day and cuddle his sons, reassuring himself that he would never allow the same fate to come upon them. Protecting them from society was one thing, looking after their health was quite another, and as Sandy raced through the halls of the hospital, a feeling of utmost vulnerability came upon him. However, he composed himself enough for his wife before stepping into the room.

"Kirsten?"

"Oh Sandy," she cried, drying her tears onto his shoulder as he pulled her into an embrace. "Sandy, it was so horrible, they had to check his bone marrow or something, and they were holding him down and needling him, and he cried so much, and he begged me to take him home..." she continued to sob. Sandy held her tightly and ran his hand down her back, gently massaging from her neck down to comfort her.

"I'm so sorry sweetie, I should have been here, I'm sorry," he confessed whisperingly into her ear until her sobs softly subsided.

"Did they tell you what was wrong?" he asked her, finally pulling away from the embrace to walk over to his sleeping child's bedside. Kirsten sniffed as she shook her head and ran her hands over her eyes to wipe the tears away.

"They won't let me know anything."

Sandy ran his hand gently through his son's golden blonde hair before bending over to kiss him on the forehead. The movement woke Ryan, and he blinked groggily as he adjusted his eyes to the light.

"Daddy?"

Sandy smiled, "Hey Rhino, you're awake! Mommy tells me you've been a very brave boy!" he exclaimed to the sounds of Ryan's small giggles at his nickname being used.

"I feel yucky!"

"I'm sorry kiddo," commiserated Sandy, running his hand through his son's hair once again, "I'm sure the lovely doctors and nurses will make you feel better," he reassured.

Ryan smiled again, before succumbing to a yawn.

"Daddy...tired..." he muttered, his eyes drooping.

"How about you go back to sleep then kiddo?"

"You, Mommy...Seth...gonna be here...when I wake up?" asked Ryan, his eyes closing for the final time.

"Of course," replied Sandy, kissing Ryan on the forehead again, before staring long and hard at his sleeping son. Ryan was an energetic kid, and besides the mild infection every now and again, he was generally healthy and happy. Nothing much could be wrong right? Of course not, everyone's just overreacting, Sandy thought to himself.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cohen?" a voice inquired at the door.

Kirsten sniffed and wiped her tears away when she saw Dr. Williams was indeed the owner of the voice. Walking towards the doctor and Sandy at the same time, she managed to cling onto her husbands arm before greeting the doctor.

"We have Ryan's results from his tests..." the Doctor started to say whilst Kirsten bit her lip and clung harder onto Sandy.

"And?"

The Doctor hesitated.

"Maybe you would like to take a seat," she finally said, gesturing to the bench in the hall outside of Ryan's room. Kirsten felt her muscles clench up immediately. This could not be a good sign. Sandy however, felt her, and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before leading her to the bench and sitting her down.

After seeing that her charges were seated, Doctor Williams took a deep breath. She hated this part of her job.

"You son Ryan...has Leukemia."

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"Seth?" Sandy called softly, not wanting to disrupt the other children in the playroom. The hospital playroom was a bright sunny place with large murals of cute furry animals painted all around the walls. Toys and games were stacked up in various shelves around the room, making a vibrant colorful atmosphere for the children to enjoy. A television showing cartoons was playing in a corner where an excited crowd of children were gathered. Without further inspection one would've thought this was any normal kindergarten classroom...until you saw that half the kids were in wheelchairs, many with bandaged arms or legs. They were the lucky ones. The less lucky kids were pale, some bald, and generally sick. Sandy hated to picture Ryan looking that that any time soon, but deep inside, he knew this would be a possible reality now. He thought back to the morning and his little banter with Kirsten about the bagels...how far away that seemed. Kirsten had absolutely broken down after hearing Ryan's diagnosis, and Sandy for once did not know how to comfort her. Hell, he felt like doing the same himself! But he had to hold up, and remain strong, if only for Kirsten and Ryan's sake.

Looking around the playroom again, Sandy sighed. Now he had been assigned the even tougher task. Trying to explain the situation to his other four year old son. How do you tell a child that the brother they adore and love is extremely ill...and may even die?

Die...no, he must not think that. Ryan was not going to die; Sandy himself would make sure that he didn't.

"Seth, where are you?" Sandy called again, careful not to break the melancholy air hanging around the false cheery atmosphere. Carefully, he scanned the room: not in the crowd of children near the television, not near the toy cupboards, nor the little tables set up near the window. Walking further into the playroom, Sandy found a connecting room separated through some bright glass panes, within which he could spot a few shelves of books. Walking closer, he saw that beanbags had been strewn around the floor, providing a little reading area for the children. Managing a smile at the idea of a little library within the playroom, Sandy finally managed to locate his son, still dressed on his pajamas, perched on a bean bag in the corner, concentrating hard upon an open book on his lap. "Act normal, act normal..." he begged himself before walking in to face his son.

"Hey kiddo, what's that you're reading there?" Sandy asked cheerily, crouching down to Seth's level. Looking down, Sandy noticed with surprise that the book was merely opened at the front page, and aside from the title, there was not a word or picture in sight.

Seth peeked up, before shakily greeting Sandy, "Hi Daddy."

Seeing Seth's quavering lips even as he spoke, Sandy allowed his knees to kneel down onto the ground to get right down to his son's height.

"Aw, don't I even get a hug?" Sandy asked, holding his arms invitingly. Seth focused his large brown eyes onto Sandy for a moment, as if contemplating, before placing the book onto the floor, wrapping his little arms around Sandy's neck, and snuggling into Sandy's shoulder. Sandy wrapped his arms back around Seth and gave him a gentle squeeze before letting him go, but Seth continued to hold tight. Slightly taken aback, Sandy then understood that his young son may not be as ignorant of his surroundings as he and Kirsten had thought, and knew that something wasn't right. The twins were often very sympathetic to each other's sufferings, and whenever Ryan was sick, Seth had always just seemed to know. Lifting Seth up into his arms, Sandy settled onto a nearby couch, his son on his lap.

"Daddy...is Ryan going to be okay?" Seth finally spoke up after a few seconds of silence. Sandy gently brushed a few curly brown locks out from his son's eyes before hugging him close.

"Sethelah ..." Sandy paused trying to find the right words. "Do you remember when we found a little bird in our backyard back in Berkeley?"

Seth nodded, his large eyes staring back at Sandy, as if anticipating the pain he already knew he was going to feel.

"Well, when we found it, it was very weak, and didn't know how to fly right?"

Seth nodded again, "It died..." he answered Sandy, tears forming in his eyes as he remembered that his Daddy was telling him about Ryan. "Is Ryan dying?" he whimpered, tears dripping down his small cheeks. Sandy used his hands to brush a loose tear away.

"No sweetie, Ryan's not dying...But Ryan is very sick, like that little bird was when we found him."

"Is...is...Ryan going to die?"

Sandy hugged Seth closer, and shook his head.

"No, because we are not going to let him. But Ryan will need to be taken care of very well, like how we needed to help the little bird, so he's going to have to come back here so the doctors and nurses can make him better. We need to be strong for him, and the doctors and nurses are going to do their best to make Ryan well again. We're going to need to be strong for both Ryan and Mommy." he answered, allowing his head to rest slightly onto the mop of curls of his shoulder. Seth paused, as if contemplating the answer.

"I'm so sorry..." he finally whimpered into Sandy's ear, sniffing as more tears began to well up in his large brown eyes.

"There's nothing to be sorry for Seth, this wasn't anyone's fault" Sandy reassured his small child, rubbing Seth's back comfortingly, the same way he did to calm his cries down as an infant.

"But it is my fault..." Seth sniffed, proceeding to tell Sandy of how Ryan had told him about the pain in his legs, but he hadn't told Mommy or Daddy, and how he had pushed Ryan over in the morning, causing the big bruise on his brother's back.

"I'm sorry I made Ryan sick..." he finished, using Sandy's shoulder to soak up the tears drops falling from his eyes when he blinked.

Sandy pulled Seth from his shoulder, and forced his son to look straight at his face.

"Listen to me Sethelah. This wasn't anyone's fault, not Mommy's, not Daddy's…and especially not yours."

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_Thanks for Reading! Please Review!! Preddy Please?? Preddy Preddy Please with a cherry on top?? smiles_


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for the reviews once again! They really inspire me to write more and more each day! This may the last chapter up for a while because I'll be going back to Sydney (in HK right now) and then going off to China for a year of International Studies...and I don't know if I'll have any internet in between this time. (It may also take a while before the internet is set up in China) Anyways, I think it's a good place to break off anyways, so hope you enjoy it! _

**Brothers – Chapter 3**

Sandy felt Seth's hesitation at the door of Ryan's room, the tiny hand clutching his own just that little bit tighter, the feet dragging. Giving his son's hand a little squeeze, he gave Seth a small pat on the head before opening the door and leading him inside.

"Look who I found!" he announced enthusiastically into the room, an attempt to lighten up the tense atmosphere, to lessen the fear and cautiousness that Sandy could feel gripping his son.

Seth tentatively peeked inside the room, chewing nervously at his lip. He could make out Ryan's figure on the bed, asleep. His brother didn't look too sick...he thought to himself, but glancing up, he saw his Mommy's tear stained face, and knew the truth. Seth shuddered; his Mommy was crying...he didn't like it when his Mommy cried. Last time he had seen her cry, was when Grandma had died. He had stood by not really knowing what to do, but Ryan had been at his side, and Ryan being there had made him brave. Brave enough to go up to his Mommy and hold her hand, and tell her that he was sorry and that he missed Grandma too. Ryan had gone up with him, taking Kirsten's other hand, and both boys had managed to make her smile again. Now seeing his Mommy cry for the second time in his life, Seth felt the need for his brother to be there again.

"We need to be strong for Ryan and Mommy." His Daddy's words whispered in his ear once again. Looking at his Daddy, as if for confirmation, Seth knew what he needed to do. Be strong for Mommy...he was going to be strong for Mommy, because that was what Mommy needed for him to be right now.

"Don't cry Mommy," Seth spoke up, walking away from Sandy's side to take her hand into his own little ones, "Ryan's going to get better." He felt as his Mommy held his hand tighter, before wrapping him into a hug. He could feel his Mommy's body shaking as she sobbed, and fear gripped once again at his little heart. But he stood strong, wrapping his arms around her neck and gently stroking her back...the same way his Daddy did to him after a nightmare.

"Kirsten," Sandy spoke up, seeing his wife breakdown onto Seth. Sandy's instinct was able to tell him how much his son was able to handle, and he knew that Kirsten's tears was bordering on frightening Seth. "Kirsten," he spoke again, detangling her from Seth and wrapping her into his own arms.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, Dr. Williams would like to see you in her office," a nurse announced at the door, unaware of what she was interrupting until she had finished. "Oh, I'm sorry if I interrupted..." she started to apologized, but Sandy waved for her to stop.

"We'll be right there," he answered her. Satisfied, the nurse nodded and walked out.

"Kirsten, we have to go," he said gently to his wife, beckoning her to the door. Kirsten wiped her tears away and sniffed, taking a few deep breaths to keep further tears at bay. When she finally regained her composure, she took a final longing glance at Ryan, before the couple stepped outside the room.

Seeing his parents leave, Seth felt a sense of insecurity surround him. He was afraid to be left alone in this dreary place, whether it was now in Ryan's room, or before in the hospital playroom. His life had always been with Ryan, his big brother had always been at his side no matter what, giving him the confidence he needed to be himself, to feel that the world was at ease. But now, as Ryan slept up on the bed, Seth felt alone for the first time. Yes, his brother was right beside him, and Seth couldn't seem to understand why he felt so scared and sad...but he did. He needed Ryan now, he needed Ryan close. Seeing the chair beside Ryan's bed, which Kirsten previously had been sitting on, Seth quickly clambered up, so he was able to reach to his brother on the bed. Leaning over, Seth gave his brother a small kiss on his cheek, willing for Ryan to wake up.

"Ry..." he uttered softly, but stopped himself, logic somehow telling him that he shouldn't wake up his brother right now. Feeling a real sense of dread and vulnerability over washing himself, Seth's tears began to trail down his small cheeks, dripping off his face and down to soak the edge of Ryan's pillow.

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"Ryan has acute myeloid leukemia," reported Dr. Williams after seating Kirsten and Sandy down into her office. She could only guess how much the family before her was in pain right now, but she as a doctor, felt that her duty was to provide them with what they needed to know. "It is a cancer in his bone marrow cells," she continued, handing them the folder she had already prepared on her desk. "All the information you need to know on Ryan's condition has been provided inside the folder, and if you have any questions you're very welcomed to come back to me."

Sandy and Kirsten nodded, taking the folder from the Doctor.

"Now, I know the words leukemia and cancer probably sound very scary, and I'm not going to sugar coat this, it is potentially life threatening, but there is treatment available, and once a child has been in remission, there is a high percentage chance that they will be able to live a normal life all the way into old age."

Sandy and Kirsten nodded again, trying to absorb all they were hearing, yet seeming to hear nothing at the same time.

"Now since we've covered the basics, I've called you in here actually to discuss Ryan's treatment. You may or may not already know about chemotherapy..."

Kirsten gasped audibly, interrupting the doctor, before succumbing to a sob. Realizing where she was, she quickly controlled herself.

"Sorry...it's just that...my Mother...she...died of cancer," she muttered to the Doctor whilst Sandy comfortingly massaged her shoulder.

"I understand," the Doctor responded sympathetically, "Chemotherapy is quite...unpleasant, and it's going to be hard for Ryan, and hard for you as parents as well, but it is the only option we have so far, and has had successes, especially in small children."

"Isn't there..a transplant or something for leukemia?" asked Sandy, finding the term "only option" so deadening.

Dr. Williams nodded.

"A bone marrow or stem cell transplant is a possible option, but we need to find the right match. Even with the right donor, we still need to run Ryan through chemotherapy first to kill off the cancer cells. In the meantime, it would be a good idea to start asking family members to test for positive matches. I believe his blood type is..." The Doctor opened up Ryan's file, "AB negative...that is a rather rare blood type..."

Pause.

"Look, there are chances, however rare. If no family matches, we can sign him up onto the donor's bank, and that's only considering if he doesn't get better with chemo. Ryan's otherwise a healthy kid, I'm confident your son will get through this," concluded the Dr. Williams.

Kirsten and Sandy hugged, before nodding their thanks at the Doctor.

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Ryan awoke to the sounds of muffled cries coming from the side of his bed. Blinking groggily whilst his eyes adjusted to the light, he found himself staring into Seth's tear stained cheeks, and wasted no moments in sitting up despite his body's protests.

"Seth? Why crying?" he asked, to which Seth sniffed and quickly used the back of his sleeves to wipe his eyes. "Where are we?" Ryan asked him again when noticing despite the fact that Seth was dressed in his pajamas, they weren't in their own room back in the big mansion.

"Hospital..." Seth managed to sniff out, using his sleeve to swipe away another loose tear.

"Why are you crying? Sethy?" asked Ryan again, this time using Seth's pet name. Ryan had always seen Kirsten and Sandy refer to Seth in that affectionate way when soothing him, and he himself had learnt to use it too when comforting his brother.

Seth shook his head...how was he meant to explain the funny feeling inside that had pained him so much and caused him his tears?

"I...I...Mommy and Daddy went away, and you...you were sleeping...and then there was just me..." he stammered, "And I was scared..." he finished in a whisper, wiping yet another tear that had escaped. Ryan wasted no time in reaching over to hug his brother.

"Don't be scared Seth, I'm here now."

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_Yep, Ryan is the strong one even though he is sick...hee. One of my friends who read it first made a comment that Kirsten seemed to cry too much...but I dunno, I just always imagined her to be pretty broken if one of her children was sick..._

_Anyways, please review!! (and long reviews are very appreciated!)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Brothers Who Share – Chapter 4**

"Remember to tell the teacher if you feel unwell, and Seth, you take good care of Ryan," Kirsten instructed her boys, crouching down to their level to hug them.

"Yes Mommy," Seth replied cheerfully, giving his Mommy a kiss on her cheek.

"I will be okay Mommy," was Ryan's answer, leaning himself into Kirsten.

Kirsten hugged her boys one final time before letting them enter the classroom, hand in hand. It was her boys' first day at kindergarten, for Caleb her father, had made sure the boys were enrolled into Newport Junior Elementary, where classes ran from age four to give the children a head start. It was also only one day short of a week since Ryan had been diagnosed, and he was to be commencing chemotherapy tomorrow. Kirsten and Sandy had spent the week debating over whether Ryan would start school today, and their final decision had been to let him go, since they were confident of allowing Ryan to have as normal a life as possible. And this meant sharing his first day of school with his twin brother. They had already called up the school to alert them to Ryan's special situation, and had also given Seth countless instructions on what to do should his brother display any serious signs of illness. Ryan had also been told to take it easy and to let the teacher know if at any time he felt too tired and wanted to go home.

Now standing at the door of the classroom, watching as her two boys were directed to their own assigned desk beside each other, Kirsten felt all the second thoughts and worries she had hidden inside her mind rise out, and she watched Ryan's every move with anxiety.

"Big day huh?" a voice spoke up beside her, and she turned around to realize that it belonged to her next door neighbor, Julie Cooper.

"Julie...hi..." said Kirsten, breaking out of her trance to acknowledge the lady, "you're here with...Marissa right?" she asked.

Julie nodded. "There's my one," she replied, pointing to a petite blonde little girl sitting just two desks away from Ryan. "And I see you're here with your twins."

Kirsten nodded... "It"s just so hard...leaving them like this..." she said, voicing her fears to her sudden found peer, though it sort of amazed her that her peer was indeed Julie Cooper.

"Every kid goes through it, one day, you'll probably be glad to rid them to school..." was Julie's nonchalant reply. "Look, you have anything to do? Why don't we go grab a coffee, and take our minds off these little ones," she suggested to Kirsten whilst taking one final curt wave at Marissa.

Kirsten too took a final glance at her boys, who seemed to be quite content chatting away to each other. Her initial reaction was to reject, what if Ryan felt sick and the teacher called home? But she knew that they could always reach Sandy at the office, and she really could not cope with doing nothing but waiting for Ryan to come back from school. Finally she nodded. "Sure...why not."

"What's that?!" a scornful voice erupted loudly, catching Ryan's attention. It was recess time, and the kids were settling down in the playground opening their well packed lunchboxes. The voice, Ryan realized, belonged to a tall, well built boy by the name of Luke, who was at the very moment smirking at Seth, his already formed circle of friends giggling behind him. Seth slowly looked up to meet the boy's eye, and Ryan could make out Captain Oats, Seth's plastic horse, clutched in his brother's hands. Seth had found Captain Oats when they were cleaning out Grandma's things after she passed away. He had instantly taken to the horse and had practically begged Kirsten to let him keep it. Now he carried it with him whenever he could. Seeing as the tall boy advance closer to his brother, Ryan wasted no time before rushing up beside Seth.

"Horses are for sissies!" the boy teased, snatching Captain Oats out of Seth's hands and throwing it to one of his mates beside him whilst they all chanted "Sissy boy, Sissy boy..."

"Hey, give him...give him back," whimpered Seth, moving forward to try and take the toy back, but fearing to face the group of boys. Ryan quickly walked in front of Seth and faced the tall boy squarely in the face.

"Give it back to him," he demanded, his fists clutching by his side.

"Whatcha gonna do?" the boy asked smugly, "Sissy boy," he teased again. Ryan rushed forward, but was held back by a tug on the tail of his shirt.

"Ryan, Daddy said no fighting..." Seth pleaded, tugging once more at Ryan. Hearing Seth's words, Ryan stopped struggling, but continued to stare hard at the boy.

"Give it back," he finally demanded, an unusual demeanor finding its way into his expression. The boy, who had shrunk back at the thought that Ryan was in fact going to hit him when he rushed forward, shrugged nonchalantly, before tossing the plastic horse onto the ground.

"Here's your horsey Sissy boy," he hissed at Seth once more before walking away, leading his troop with him. Ryan stared at the leaving crowd, feeling anger flow through his small body. No one should be able to hurt his brother and get away with it, and even though Seth had gotten Captain Oats back, Ryan still felt at a loss. Suddenly he felt a surge of dizziness hit him, and he did his best to balance himself.

"Ryan? Ryan?" Seth asked, shaking his brother who had suddenly gotten very pale, "Ryan?" he tried again and when Ryan still didn't respond, fearful tears began to make their way into his large brown eyes.

"Seth," Ryan finally answered when the dizziness passed.

"Are you...are you okay? We can call Mommy..."

"I think so..." was Ryan's reply, shaking his head slightly to brush off the dizzy spell. "Is Captain Oats okay?" he asked Seth instead and directed his eyes to the plastic horse laying on the ground. Seth gasped, quickly walking over to pick up the horse and brush smudges of dirt away. After some more careful inspection, Seth turned back to Ryan and grinned.

"Captain Oats is okay too," he quipped, holding out the horse for Ryan to see before walking back to his original spot before the boys had interrupted him and sitting down, Ryan beside him. Opening their lunchboxes, Seth and Ryan then proceeded to munch contently at the ham and cheese bagels Sandy had prepared for them.

"Ry...are you scared...of...of the chemo?" Seth suddenly spoke up. Ryan sighed, pursing his lips in thought of how to respond.

"A...A little I guess," he finally answered, followed by another pause. "Seth...I don't think you should bring Captain Oats tomorrow," he spoke up again, turning to face his brother.

Seth nodded, taking a moment to swallow the bite in his mouth.

"I'm not. He's going with you. He's going to protect you." was his simple reply.

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Back! Actually, I'm pretty busy over here in China, but I'll try my best to update! Here is a short chapter to get it going again! Just a little interaction with the boys. I don't actually know how plausible it is for a child diagnosed with Leukaemia to get to go to school...but it works for this story, so I'm going to use it. Also, I made Luke such a meanie didn't I? Poor Luke! hehe...someone had to get the role:P

And so sad that The OC has finished! I hope this story still gets an audience:(


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